Hockey: Loui Eriksson fills bill for Bruins

Tuesday

Jul 9, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Bud Barth NHL

First it was Phil Kessel, and then Tyler Seguin. Two gifted skaters and natural goal scorers who essentially flunked out with the Bruins.

Kessel has gone on to have seasons of 30, 32, 37 and — if his 2013 totals are extrapolated over a full 82-game season — 34 goals with Toronto. The only thing that made that palatable for the Bruins was that they won a Cup and got all those high draft picks in return, which yielded Seguin, Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight.

But now Seguin is also gone, a victim of the same philosophy that doomed Kessel — that even goal scorers must play defense under coach Claude Julien. And in general, that requirement is to be applauded.

But is the Bruins’ game plan such that a pure goal scorer like Kessel or Seguin cannot exist within their equation?

Fortunately for the B’s, there are lots of forwards out there who can — like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and the recently acquired Loui Eriksson and Jarome Iginla, guys who can score as well as forecheck and backcheck.

Many people out there, this one included, think Seguin should have been given at least one more year in Boston. His 16 goals in the short regular season would have been 27 over a full 82 games, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In the end, it looks as though he was banished for one bad playoff year.

Did he get so preoccupied with defense that he couldn’t score?

At 21, in his third NHL season, Seguin still acted childishly on and off the ice, and without getting into all the sordid details, it wasn’t a good element on the ice or in the locker room.

GM Peter Chiarelli obviously didn’t see enough growth in Seguin over three years to feel comfortable that he’d mature into what the Bruins thought they were getting with the second overall pick in the draft. And they grew tired of waiting.

The Stars got a taste of life with Seguin on Monday when they issued a statement criticizing a tweet on Seguin’s Twitter account, allegedly made by a hacker, which read, “Only steers and queers in Texas, and I’m not a cow.”

Seguin later shut down his account, but not before apologizing with this entry: “Twitter hacking has to stop. My apologies.”

In the end, the Bruins may regret trading Seguin. Either way, you know he’s going to score 35 or 40 goals a year for the Stars. Fortunately for the Bruins, Dallas plays in the Western Conference, so Seguin won’t come back to haunt them directly.

And the Bruins did get a good return for Seguin, Rich Peverley and Ryan Button, most of it in the person of Eriksson, who fielded questions from the hockey media in a conference call on Monday.

Eriksson, who turns 28 on July 17, is destined for right wing, probably on the Bergeron-Marchand line to replace free agent Jaromir Jagr, who is being wooed by the Canadiens. Eriksson’s strength and two-way grit will fit perfectly into that line, which normally shadows the opposition’s highest-scoring line.

Iginla is likely to be the new right wing on the Krejci-Lucic line in place of Nathan Horton, who left the Bruins for the quieter, less demanding atmosphere of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“I played both sides when I played in Dallas,” Eriksson said. “I know both sides, but I like to play on the right side. I know I’ve been talking to Peter (Chiarelli) about it. He said he wanted me to play on the right side. I think that will be a good fit for me.

“I know they have really good players, especially Bergeron, and they have Krejci among the centermen. I don’t think it would be any problem to play with those guys. They are going to make me better, and I’m going to try and make them better, too.”

Eriksson, a Swedish native, played with the Bruins’ Carl Soderberg in juniors, and is chummy with ex-Bruin P.J. Axelsson, another Swedish native. He was a 2011 finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly play.

He was sitting at home with his family when his agent called and asked him about waiving his no-trade clause because the Bruins had contacted him.

“Everything happened real fast, actually,” Eriksson said, “so I talked with my family quick, and it was kind of an easy decision to make that decision to go and play with Boston. I know it’s a good team, and they really wanted me, too, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

Eriksson didn’t have his best season in 2013, with 12 goals and 29 points in 48 games. He blamed some of that on playing on multiple lines and being unable to find any consistency with anyone. But he averaged 30 goals over the four previous seasons and is a very good defensive player, too.

“It was kind of disappointing for me — it was a tough year for me, actually,” Eriksson said of the past season. “I didn’t feel that good through the year. I think I hit the post and out almost the whole year, so I’m looking to rebound here in the next year and try to make better plays.”

In seven seasons in Dallas, Eriksson played under four coaches, so he’s looking forward to a team with stability in that area; Julien will be starting his seventh season this fall at the helm of the Bruins.

Eriksson also hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2008, when the Stars made it to the Western Conference finals, so that’s another opportunity he’s looking forward to.

“In five years with Dallas, we haven’t made the playoffs,” he said, “so I’m really excited to come to Boston and try to win the Cup.”

In the end, the Bruins lost Horton, Seguin, Peverley and probably Jagr, who scored a total of 37 goals for them last season. They’ve been replaced so far by Eriksson and Iginla, who had a total of 26 last season but have the potential to score 30 apiece. Will they be enough?